'Overspending on cars now could lead to having walk in retirement' - Gaurav Ghose
Wealth management books, articles, trainings, and forums offer the same general idea on savings and income protection but slightly differ on how much they should be setting aside per investment basket. I also tried to play around on which percentage allocation will I be able to prepare for my future financial obligations.
Before we proceed on the percentage allocation, let us know the different Investment baskets we need to consider. This is best explained using Colayco's illustration of Investment Baskets:
But this doesn't seem to apply in reality, considering that expenses are varying due to Life Goals i.e. family. On top of that, there is inflation and interest rate you are using for your investment. In short, you need to vary your percentage allocation per age to fit your financial objective while maintain a relatively good lifestyle.
I referenced these from an article Dubai, written by Gaurav Ghose. His article states that you need to increase your fund allocation for your retirement as you near your retirement age.
Let us consider our Average Joe:
Age 25-30: Average Joe is still single and may have a few dependencies at hand. i.e. parents or siblings
Age 30-40: Common age to start a family. If you start to have kids at this age, your life goal baskets or expenses might increase as well, but DON'T NEGLECT your protection basket especially if you have more dependencies already.
Age 40-50: This is usually the time wherein people plan to have a house or car of their own. However, this is also a crucial stage wherein they need to increase their percentage allocation for their retirement.
Age 50-60: More often than not, children are already working at this age. To retire comfortably at age 60, they need to 'pump-up' further their retirement fund.
*Retirement fund should be invested in an instrument earning an average of 10% p.a.
**Average inflation rate is at 5.5% p.a.
In a nutshell, you must be flexible on allocating your funds depending on your personal and family needs, but don't leave any of these investment baskets empty. Don't overspend and invest for your future.
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Wealth management books, articles, trainings, and forums offer the same general idea on savings and income protection but slightly differ on how much they should be setting aside per investment basket. I also tried to play around on which percentage allocation will I be able to prepare for my future financial obligations.
Before we proceed on the percentage allocation, let us know the different Investment baskets we need to consider. This is best explained using Colayco's illustration of Investment Baskets:
- Protection Basket
- Emergency Fund – 3-6 months worth of personal expense
- Life Insurance
- Medical Insurance
- Life Goal Basket
- Children's Education
- House
- Car
- Etc.
- Retirement Basket
- Day-to-day expenses
- Medical Expenses
But this doesn't seem to apply in reality, considering that expenses are varying due to Life Goals i.e. family. On top of that, there is inflation and interest rate you are using for your investment. In short, you need to vary your percentage allocation per age to fit your financial objective while maintain a relatively good lifestyle.
I referenced these from an article Dubai, written by Gaurav Ghose. His article states that you need to increase your fund allocation for your retirement as you near your retirement age.
Let us consider our Average Joe:
- Have a stable job
- Desires to have a family with two kids
- Desires to have a car and house of his own
- Would like to retire at age 60
Age | Protection | Life Goals | *Retirement | **Expenses |
25-30 | 10% | 10% | 10% | 70% |
30-40 | 10% | 20% | 10% | 60% |
40-50 | 10% | 20% | 20% | 50% |
50-60 | 10% | 10% | 30% | 50% |
Age 30-40: Common age to start a family. If you start to have kids at this age, your life goal baskets or expenses might increase as well, but DON'T NEGLECT your protection basket especially if you have more dependencies already.
Age 40-50: This is usually the time wherein people plan to have a house or car of their own. However, this is also a crucial stage wherein they need to increase their percentage allocation for their retirement.
Age 50-60: More often than not, children are already working at this age. To retire comfortably at age 60, they need to 'pump-up' further their retirement fund.
*Retirement fund should be invested in an instrument earning an average of 10% p.a.
**Average inflation rate is at 5.5% p.a.
In a nutshell, you must be flexible on allocating your funds depending on your personal and family needs, but don't leave any of these investment baskets empty. Don't overspend and invest for your future.




























